Apparatus for irrigating and fertilizing soil.



5. RYAN. APPARATUS FOR IRRIGA TING AND FERTILIZ ING SOIL.

APELICATION FILED DEC. 7| 1915- 1,173,534, Patented Feb. 29, 1916.

2 SHEETS-SHEET I.

B. RYAN;- APPARATUS FOR lRRiGATlNG AND FERIILIZ ING SOIL.

APPLlCATl ON FILED DEC. 7,1915. p

Patented Feb. 29,1916.

2 SVHEETS-SHEET 2.

' STATES PATENT or'mcn.

BABTLE RYAN, OF NORTHCOTE, VICTORIA, AUSTRAIJIA.

- AEPABA'IUS FOR IRRIGATING AND FERTILIZIN SOIL.

To all whom it may 00 ncem Be it known that I, BARTLE RYAN, of 97 Westgarth street, Northcote, in the State of Victoria, Commonwealth of Australia, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in App'aratus'for Irrigating and Fertilizing. Soil, 'of which the following is a specification. .j.

This invention 'relates to a new and improved apparatus for irrigating and fertilizing soils and embodies an economically conland by means of surface sprays, drains and the like means and fertilizing substances when used in a liquid form are distributed in a similar way." When using fertilizing substances of a powdered or dry form they are" placed in trenches or drills of spreadover the surface of the soil.

- q The disadvantages of the ordinary method of irrigating are they necessitate the use of a considerable amount of water to insure ,moi'sture. reaching the roots of the plants evaporation or to the. failure of the substance to penetrate the soil sufficiently to insure a thoroughly satisfactory result.

The present invention has been .devised with the object .of' overcoming the above mentioned disadvantages and by its use the soil will be kept thoroughly moist and fertilized to any required depth.

The invention also provides fora perfect aeration of-the soil by which means it will be kept sweet. and insure a perfect growth of cro Furthermore, the invention can be use for efiecting thorough underground draining operations.

The invention consists in means for forcibly projecting water, .a mixture of water 1 and a fertilizing agent either in the form of a liquid or vapor with air beneath the surface of thesoil and around the roots of the grow- Specification of Letters Patent. Patented Feb, 29, 1916, Application filed December 7, 1915. Seria1No.'65,579.

ing plants or crop either in a cold or Warm v state as required. 1 In order that the invention may be readily understood reference will now be had to the accompanying sheets of explanatory drawingsfwherein Figure 1 is a view in perspective of the apparatus embodiedin the invention, and

Figs. 2 and 3 are views in sectional side elevation and side elevation, respectively, of

part of the apparatus. Fig. 4 is a view in Y sectional side elevation of another part of the apparatus. Fig. 5 is a view in plan (partly in section) of Fig. 4. Fig. 6 is a vlew in sectional plan taken on the dotted line B B of Fig. 3. Fig. 7 is a view in elevation of a constructional'detail of the apparatus and hereinafter is fully described.

Throughout the drawings like characters of reference have been used to indicate the same or corresponding parts in the different.

views and the letter a designates a main pipe which is connected to one side of a mixbranches 0 and 0 to connect with a pump d and a blower 6, respectively. The chamber 6 is mounted on a suitable stand 7 and'in the form illustrated is tapered and fitted internally with a plurality of perforated plates 9 (see Figs. 4 and 6) The pump d is located near a well or other waterreservoir and the water therefrom is forced through the the branch pipe 0 to the chamber 6. The

blower e forces air througlt the branch pipe c to the chamber-b and cooks d and e 'are fitted to the branch pipes to control the quantity of'water and air passing there-through.v

The pump and blower can be of any-approved construction and they can be oper-. ated from any convenient source of power as an engine,w1ndmill or horse Works. Other arrangements or combinations of pump and I blower will oecur'tmthose skilled in the artwhich. will fall Within the scope of myin I vention as herein disclosed.

A chamber-k is formed above the chamber 6 and the first-mentioned chamber can be d1v1ded by a wall into two compartments it for containing powdered or li uid fertiliz- 'ers. The fertilizers are delivere to the compartments it through openings-covered by caps 21 and regulatable quantities of the fer tilizers are permitted topass from the compartments k to the chamber 6 by way of openings controlledby valves j. The valves 9' can be ofany approved form and they are operated externally by pins in carrying knurled knobs H. The pins 70 formed on the valves j are screwed into bosses Z fitted to the top of the chamber h and by operating the knurled knobs k the said valves can be" opened or closed to regulate the quantities 3 of fertilizer passing from the compartments of said chamber to the chamber 6 therebeare provided w1th series of perforations nv of approved size. The main pipe at and the branch pipes m are placed at any desiredv depth beneath the surface of the soil and the branch pipes preferably are arranged to incline toward the main pipe as shown in Fig. 7 of the drawings.

In order to insure the water being distributed evenly to all the branch plpes m .one or more regurgitation traps 0 can be placed at suitable points in the length of the main pipea as shown in Figs. 1, 2 and 3. The regurgitationtrap comprises a chamber, to the opposite sides and lower part of which the plpe a is connected in an approved way. The inlet part of the pipe arcan be situated at a lower level than'the outletpart thereof and a by-pass p-is formed between the outlet part of the said pipe and the upper part of the chamber. The outlet end of'the pipe (1 leading from the chamber of the trap is normally closed by a removable plug 9 and the water flows from the said chamber by way of the'by-pass 12. When the plug 9 is removed from the pipe a water can be passed straight through the pipe (1 and the branch to effect drainage operations in thehe volume of water in the regurgltation trap below the by-pass insures a sufficient evenly through th head to cause the water to be-distributed e branch pipes. A removable receptacle r is placed in the bottom of the trap to catch any silt or sand that may 1 enter and be passed through the pipe a and pipes m r inary Fassin the mixing chamber to sai per orate pipes.

the said receptacle can be removed and emptied by opening an airtight cover 8 fitted ant mixture of air, water and fertilizer will be forced by way of the main and perforated branch pipes into the soil.

In-order to effect a more, perfect aeration of the fertilizer the lower chamber 6 can be.

filled or partially filled with coke or other similar substance (not shown) which will absorb the fertilizer and the air 'passing through and around the said substance will become moist and in this state be forcibly projected from the perforated pipes. When a powdered dry fertilizer is used a quantity of water is also allowed to pass to the lower chamber and then the. air, fertilizer and water will be distributed beneath the surface of the soil through the perforated pipes.

Various forms of fertihzers capable of being vaporized or li uefied can be used and other forms not readily soluble can be used in a powderedforml and distributed with the water or moistened compressed air.

If desired air, moistened by contact with the liquid fertilize'rgin the chamber 6 can be forced into the pipes a and m without water, and when the soil. is only required to be aerated air alone is forced into the said lpes.

The distributing pipes can be made of metal, wood, bamboo or earthenware and can It will be understood that I have shown and described herein only the preferred em- I bodiment of my invention but I contemplate all such modifications thereof as falling within the scope of my inventlon.

Y What I do claim is:

. 1. An'apparatus for aerating, irrigatmg and fertilizing soil, comprising in combmation, a mixing chamber, a pump and a blower, pipes connecting the pump and blower to'the mixing chamber, a chamber for containing a fertllizer located adjacent to the said mixing chamber, a valve .controlling an opening between the -sa1d.chambers, perforated pipes located beneath the surface of the soil, and a me from 2. An ap aratus foraerating, irrigatmg and fertilizmg soil, c'omprising in combinablower to the mixing chamber, a series of I superposed perforated plates in the mixing chamber, a chamber for containing a fertilizer located above the said mixing chamber,' an opening between said chambers, an externally operatable valve to govern the flow of fertilizer through the said opening, perforated distributing pipes located beneath the surface'of the soil, and a pipe lead ing from the mixing chamber to said perforated distributing pipes.

In testimony whereof I aflix my signature in presence of tWo Witnesses.

' BARTLE RYAN. Witnesses:

A. J. CALLINAN,

JAMES H. ANDERSON. 

